When a TV receiver is developed and released, not all functionality that might ever be desired of the TV can be included or even foreseen. For example, an improved video compression paradigm requiring a complementary decoder to play the video might be introduced after a TV is sold, in which case the TV would not have the requisite decoding capability to play video transmitted in the newer compression paradigm.
While some products may possess the capability to be remotely updated via a software update, a television might not have such a capability. Furthermore, simply updating a product with software or with a new interface has shortcomings, such as not being able to accommodate industry standards for copy protection and not possessing innate mechanisms to restrict access to the interface, which is otherwise required to prevent unapproved devices from being attached to the interface. Accordingly, as recognized herein it is desirable to provide a means for a TV owner to add omitted functionality to the TV while providing the interface to do so with a mechanism for ensuring that only approved devices may be connected.